These are the questions humanity has asked itself for its entire existence, and is likely going to continue asking until the very end.
Looking at life, the cosmos, and what all of it really means, is impossible to comprehend unless we know when to stop looking. We’re always looking to get to the summit of every mountain to uncover its mystery, in much the same way that we hike to the summit of all of our philosophical questions to find answers.
By looking at the mountain from the ground up, we can see the whole thing in its entirety, we can see all of its… uhh… “mountain-ness”. When we get to the summit; however, we lose this perspective, and can no longer see the mountain for what it really is.
Instead, we find that beyond this mountain lies another just like it, and another, and another. Each with its own journey, its own summit, and its own unanswered questions.
Using this analogy, we find that the questions of life follow a similar journey.
We can look deeply into life’s mechanisms through science, and use reason to theorise and measure some of life’s intricacies. As we do this we climb higher and higher towards where we think the answer is located. But as we search, we never actually end up getting any closer to finding the answers to these ultimate questions. Instead, we just lose sight of the bigger picture and find ourselves looking out at the endless horizon of unknowns full of even more questions at the top.
Some of us will even become lost at this point, walking from ridge to ridge aimlessly in search of more answers and more summits until we can no longer find our way back to the car.
There is a big difference between exploring for the sake of exploring, and wandering aimlessly.
To explore for the sake of exploring means to accept these mysteries as they are, and keep them in perspective. Thereby avoiding the unnecessary struggle of thought and aimlessly searching for the answer to every problem.
We don’t need to summit every mountain, or answer every question to be a successful explorer. Doing so will likely lead to finding ourselves lost and applicant for metaphorical bear food. We need to learn when to stop looking for answers and how to be content with the fact that there are things we simply cannot comprehend… in the same way as you physically cannot view the mountain in its entirety from the perspective at the summit.
Originally published at www.420alpine.com.
